2015 Robert Keenan Winery Chardonnay Spring Mountain District 750 ml

Rare Mountain Napa Chardonnay

Michael Keenan, the king of Napa’s Spring Mountain, has “the Midas touch,” according to Robert Parker. In 2015, the gold is in the glass — another absolutely riveting Chardonnay from Keenan’s 2,000-foot “magical vineyard” perch overlooking nearly all of the valley below, which Parker called “a beautiful Chardonnay.” The exceptional vintage impressed Parker as “a spectacular, high-quality vintage...It is a small crop of extremely high quality and continues the remarkable succession of exceptional vintages.” From one of Napa’s last mountain hideouts for Chardonnay — most have been replaced by Cabernet — Keenan’s 2015 Estate Chardonnay from Napa’s Spring Mountain combines gorgeous toasty brioche notes and dazzling, wet-rock minerality, pleasing fans of New and Old World Chardonnay. Keenan has long been one of our most popular wineries, and the 125 cases we secured from this limited production will sell out fast — especially at $27.99 per bottle, the best price in the U.S.

Keenan’s 2015 Chardonnay has its origins in vines planted in 1995, dry-farmed to place more stress on the vines and add character of the finished product. After hand-harvesting, the wine was left on the lees, with no secondary or malolactic fermentation, then aged in French and American oak barrels for approximately seven months. This style is described by Keenan as “the dominant Napa style 40-50 years ago,” when much of Napa’s winemakers had been inspired by French wines, trained in France, or were French. This less-manipulated process results in a crisp citrus and green apple-forward yet still lush Chardonnay, exhibiting balanced oak.